NEWARK, N.J. Earlier this week 34-year-old Scott Clemmensen laughed about being the youngest goalie in the series and said he was confident that he could get the best of his mentor, Martin Brodeur, the Devils’ iconic netminder who was pulled in Game 3 for just the sixth time in his certain Hall-of-Fame career.

At least Clemmensen – Brodeur’s former protégé and backup – was outstanding for two periods of his first career postseason start before being thoroughly outclassed by his teacher.

The soon-to-be 40-year-old Brodeur returned to his vintage form in leading the Devils to a desperately need 4-0 victory over the Panthers Thursday night at the Prudential Center to even the Eastern Conference quarterfinal at 2-2.

Serenaded throughout by chants of, ‘Marty, Marty’, from the Devils’denizens, Brodeur had 26 saves to notch his 24th playoff shutout to pass Patrick Roy for the all-time postseason record.

The Panthers accomplished their mission to stop the Devils from taking their third three-goal, first-period lead of the series by playing them to a 0-0 draw after one. However, this time the Devils busted the game open with a three-goal third period to assure a Game 6 back in Newark on Tuesday.

“We knew Marty was going to have a bounce-back game and we weren’t able to get any easy goals on him,’’ said Clemmensen, who stopped 16 of 17 through two periods before the floodgates opened. “They needed to be desperate and proved it. They didn’t want to go down 3-1 and now it’s 2-2, anyone’s series.’’

The Panthers maintained home-ice advantage with Game 5 in the BankAtlantic Center Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Panthers have been tied 2-2 in two of their previous six playoff series and won them both against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh during their 1996 run to the Stanley Cup finals.

It’s likely that goalie Jose Theodore, who gave up three goals on six shots in Tuesday’s 4-3 win before being replaced by Clemmensen, will be back in the net.

“We had some chances, it would’ve been nice to get one or two earlier, but we’re going home with two out of three at home, so we’re in good shape,’’ Panthers’ Stephen Weiss said. “Marty made some big saves; he was good tonight. They were desperate.’’

The Devils, whose special teams had been dominated in the first three games, reversed the trend with two power-play goals, while cooling off the Panthers’ torrid power-play on all six attempts after they had gone 6-of-10 against the NHL’s regular-season top-ranked PK unit.

Clearly, the last-minute absence of defenseman Jason Garrison (lower-body injury) took away the threat of his trademark blasts to hinder the unit. His replacement, Keaton Ellerby, whose penalty set up one of New Jersey’s goals, also left with an injury and didn’t play in a chippy third.

“We didn’t seem to have the desperation they had even though we were down one goal and we still thought it was a winnable game,’’ said Panthers coach Kevin Dineen. “It seemed we were out of sorts in the third and couldn’t establish our offensive game.

“We weren’t very accurate tonight and were just hoping to get shots on net and create rebounds instead of scoring on the shot and that’s not a good formula for success against a goalie like that. We made it an easy game for him.’’

Down just 1-0 after two evenly fought periods (17 shots apiece) on a double-deflected, power-play goal by Zach Parise that Clemmensen had no chance on, the Devils scored two in the first 3:35 of the third, to end the Panthers’ modest two-game winning streak.

Former Panther Steven Bernier wristed one past Clemmensen’s stick side. Just 1:33 later, Travis Zajac one-timed a 30-foot slapper to set off a Jersey Shore-like off-color serenade from the Devils’ fans.

The barrage continued at 8:32 when slumping star Ilya Kovalchuk snapped a wrist shot from the circle that Clemmensen waved at.

By then, a white flag would’ve come in handy.

Perhaps a friendlier bounce off the post on a Sean Bergenheim backhander during a first-period power play would’ve tilted the momentum in the Panthers’ direction.

Seemed to me that a very big factor was not having Garrison in the lineup. Not only affected their power play but the defense pairings were out of synch. Campbell didn’t look as comfortable without Garrison. Add to that a mediocre game by Ellerby, including a careless stick play that resulted in a Devils PP goal, followed by losing him to an injury (and leaving them with just 5 d-men) and it was a recipe for trouble. Hopefully Garrison’s injury isn’t serious and he can be back in the lineup on Saturday. If not……..

Also seemed to me that the Panthers were once again guilty of passing up shooting opportunities, trying to make the perfect passing play. They have to remember to keep their game simple – at both ends of the ice. Their success against Brodeur the previous two games was largely the result of taking advantage of rebounds and even though he got the shutout tonight, I didn’t think he was as sharp as the scoreboard indicated.

Obviously, Saturday night is the likely tipping point in the series. Big question is what do the Panthers do if Garrison and Ellerby can’t play?

Sure the pairings were shredded, but there were other factors. The Devils finally filled up the shooting lanes on the PK, eliminating the success from the points. Weak puck possession in NJ’s zone and lack or willingness to screen when they did. Quality scoring chances were really limited to odd man rushes. Finally, NJ just wanted the game more and grabbed a huge change of momentum with this washout. Cats will be hard pressed to stay in the game on Saturday, and it’s my contention will have to fight tooth and nail in Jersey next week to bring it back to Sunrise for a game 7.

Garrison will probably be back Saturday, but if it’s his ankle again, his effectiveness will be questionable. Strachan should be brought up and Wolski inserted back in for offense. Jersey’s third and fourth line totally outplayed ours, and that can’t happen if they are to win the series. Upshalls talent and energy is being wasted without a solid setup man on the 3rd line. I’m not against moving Versteeg down, but I would question whether Upshall has the chemistry on the 1st line. I’m sure 96 love’s this suggestion, but they need a shot in the arm to get some momentum.

The Devils seemed more aggressive on the PK but I think it was more that our guys were reacting slower. Too many passed up shot opportunities while they have the goalie moving.

Ellerby doesn’t bring much except skating. Not physical enough, too many turnovers and rarely gets his shot on net. Garrison needs to be back or we could be hurting.

Too many shot opportunities passed up for sure. Weiss needs to bear down offensively, Flash needs to pick a spot and shoot instead of deking all the time, he is arguably the best sniper on the team and finally Versteeg needs to shoot the puck for pete’s sake. Always looking to pass and then by the time he realizes the pass has been taken away the shot chance gets narrowed to a sliver of available net.

Figures Lie and Rah Rahs figure..
They Lost and thats it..
The series is now a 3 game series and it is even.
Now it starts fresh and hopefully will go 7 games and a win at home..
Keep it real Rah Rahs, it is more fun not to stink up Harvs Blog with self serving morning after handicapping posts.

Not sure what point you are trying to make? Are you suggesting that we shouldn’t be fans, cheering for the Panthers to win, viewing the team’s exploits in a positive manner, and instead take a dour view of everything simply because they have a highly unlikeable guy as organization President and COO?

There is a time and place for everything, and if the playoffs aren’t the time to be a “rah-rah”, then when is that time? Right now the Panthers are playing – at least an extra 6 games added onto the season – while a bunch of teams aren’t and several “elite” teams are on the verge of elimination. Sorry, but this isn’t the time to bitch about Yormark, nor is it the time to claim the glass is half empty.

It bothers me that we still don’t have a go-to goal scorer. I mean we cannot count on goals from Mike Weaver and Marcel Goc every night. So I did some research: Jonathan Huberdeau scored 30 goals (and over 70 points) in ONLY 37 games this year for his Jr. team. Quinton Howden again topped 30 goals for his Jr. team. Nick Bjugstad scored 25 goals in 39 NCAA games (led his team) and along with Kyle Rau averaged better than a point per game for the Gophers. Vincent Trochek had 85 points (29 goals) this season in just 65 games. I think we will be outscoring people with ease as soon as 2013-1014.

Yacky, why are you even on this site? You contribute nothing other than your stupid & meaningless comments about Mr. Y instead of talking about the game or the team. You sir, are a waste product & I wish you would disappear and let us fans comment on the relavant subject, HOCKEY! I had to get that off my chest coz I’m sick of reading nonsense……….

That being said, Gari’s absence had a huge effect on our team points covered by my fellow posters.

A turning point in the game was when Bergy hit the post. A quick goal is what we needed and after that it seemed we lost a lot of steam. Rat’a Holic, you called it, too many poor decisions with the puck. There were at least 3 great rushes where a pass was a better option then a shot from 20 feet (Flash had Upshall streaking to the net. If he pass/shot to him a good chance Scottie pops it in. Kuli gets by their D and throws of powderpuff shot into MB’s midsection.

The other turning point was Guddy’s indecision on the play that led to the second goal. He takes a stride forward and he gets the puck negating the rush. He played it too safe for once and we got burned. The Zajac goal was unexcusable. How do you leave a guy in the most dangerous area? Blown coverage by somebody?

Now onto my favorite subject, Kris “I’ve lost my mojo” Versteeg. It’s time to get him off the number 1 line once & for all. I’ve been preaching this for weeks and I continue to cringe every time I have to watch him. The question is, who takes his place? (see my post from yesterday)

6 PP’s no Gari = 0 goals. Soupy did look like he lost his GF out there. Definitely need him Saturday especially with Keats goin down which btw was caused by a devil leaving their bench door open. I expect him to be out Sat so we better get somebody up here today. Strachen is the logical choice.

I think we went into this game thinking “We still got home ice so no big deal if we go home 2-2″ I can’ think of anything else coz we gave up after the second goal. KD said it before the game. We dont wanna go down 2 or 3 goals coz coming back the other night was a rarity. It wasnt going to happen 2 games in a row. So the Guddy hesitation cost us the game.

Clemmer made some good saves, can’t put the blame on him. We blew coverage on every goal except the flukey 2 deflection goal. Bad break for us just like the Bergy post. Hockey’s a funny game. A post, a bad bounce, a weird deflection, a poor call by the refs, and the game changes.

I hope the boys lick their wounds and come out Sat like gangbusters. The series is gonna be won or lost Saturday night, no doubt in my mind.
I hope Gari makes it back but if he can’t go, the rest of the guys need to step up. We played a solid D game in game 3 but fell apart last night. We can’t afford to do that tomorrow.

I’d really like to see Barch in there somewhere & would love to see KD has some balls & sit Versteeg. It’s not gonna happen but how long is going to play like a guy who belongs in the ECHL………

No time to panic boys & girls but we still need to play like we’re playing an elimination game. We gotta jam the net and make it hard for MB to see the puck. We gotta cover our men up & down. We gotta make better decisions with the puck. We gotta get shots upstairs. We gotta? Well we gottta do all the above & the 12 things I posted the other day. For all the regular bloggers here, you know what I said……..

I’m looking forward to hearing jet engine crowd noise tomorrow. We need to show our boys a lot of support and hopefully they’ll take our energy and do something with it……….

It’s a 3 game series with home ice advantage, the season far exceeding anyone’s expectations, and far from over. Trolls are gonna troll, no matter what the circumstances… it’s what they do. The Panthers won’t win the Cup, so whenever they lose, the trolls will say “we told you so”. Of course, at the beginning of the season, they told us the Panthers would occupy the Easterrn cellar, and not get so much as a whiff of the playoffs. Here we are in late April, of course, and they’re still desparately spewing trollness. Again, it’s what they do. But that can’t change reality, which is we have some great hockey left in what has already been a great season. Keep going Cats… most of us are really enjoying the ride!!

Actually, a post that’s nothing more than a regurgitation of the same idiocy about the Panthers marketing is a perfect example of a self-serving, and sophomoric rant. What possible relevance did it have to the game and Harvey’s post reporting on the game? Oh, and the blog doesn’t “belong” to Harvey, but rather the Sun Sentinel. Harvey is simply the reporter assigned to write for the blog by his employer, the Sun Sentinel

And let me go on the record as saying that 96’s posts on this blog are heartfealt and insightful opinons that always make an interesting read, whether you agree with his point of view or not.

Now, can we get back to hockey and continue enjoying the first post season of play for the Panthers in 12 years?

Wait-A-Minute
Moronic post and wrong at that.. So shut up and post hockey nit wit..
jeez it must be a full moon you lunatic..
Stop regurgitating your self serving crap and erroneous at that, post hockey fool.

Defensive hockey 101 says get the puck deep in the offensive zone (this eliminates blue line turnovers and the odd man rush)one man on the puck one in soft support and one in the high slot. This way if there is a turnover there are always three back to defend.

With that being said I like 96s lines except for Kopecky with Flash and Weiss. I would like to see Smithson stay in the lineup rather than Santorelli. So maybe move Upshall with Weiss and Flash. Kopecky is a liability in a defensive posture game, similar to Ovechkin. He just can’t control himself in the offensive zone under this type of system.

I think tonight’s game will be the lowest scoring game in the series and possibly an OT game. Panthers will have to play their most disciplined game yet in all facets to include the line change. I look for the Panthers to win a tight game and then again in NJ.

WAM and his Moron 96 are just dumb and tomorrow when they wake up they will still be Morons..
Just stop the spam 96 it is after all Harveys blog on the sun sentinel web site and other posters including Yacky may and can post their opinions, you Moron

Whatever “Mike”. And we’ll all look forward to more of your posts, be it under this nom de plume or one of your other sockpuppets.

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About the author

HARVEY FIALKOV, a tennis-playing sportswriter who grew up in Long Island following the dynastic Islanders, is the new Panthers beat writer for the Sun Sentinel and looking forward to writing about the best professional sports team in Broward County.